How to Study the Week Before the GMAT

There’s a lot to do to get ready the week before your GMAT. These suggestions are all about creating a routine for yourself. The more routine you have the less likely you are to get nervous and excited. A calm and cool state is the best thing you can do to actually hit your maximum potential score on the test. Having the week and day before the test planned out will help this a lot.

One week before your GMAT

Take no more than one or two full-length CATs during the week leading up to the GMAT. If you do take any full-length practice tests, try and replicate the routine you will have for the day of your real GMAT. For this week, try to have some un-worked practice questions that you can practice with. Timed practice is really important at this point because you want your mind and body to be used to the pace of the test. Try working on some drills in which you give yourself two minutes to answer each question or ten minutes to answer five. It’s really important to make sure you’re putting the same effort into reviewing your work and not just doing more and more questions.

• DO Stay healthy. Make sure you exercise, eat well, and get lots and lots of sleep.
• DO Get a massage. If you can, try and get one two or three days before the test, but not the day before.
• DO Clean your living space. A clean and organized living space helps promote a focused and confident mind. A lot of people don’t think this makes a difference until they try it.
• DO Visit your test center. If at all possible make a visit to the test center you’ll be taking your test at. The less you have to think about in terms of traffic and road conditions on test day, the fewer excuses your nerves will have to get wired.
• DO Check the GMAT Center’s website for what items you can and can’t bring to the test including any ID requirements. You don’t want to be surprised the day of the test.

Day before your GMAT

The theme of this day is rest, relaxation, and recreation. Give your brain a break from GMAT work. This will accomplish a couple of things. One, you’re less likely to get last-minute nerves about the test, and two, you’ll give your brain some time to get out of practice mode and into a cool state before the test. Don’t do GMAT work the day before the test. The one thing you can do is do a replica of your warm-up that you will do on the day of the test.

• DO Have fun with friends
• DO Eat your favorite dinner
• DO Watch a funny movie before bed
• DO Sleep at least 8 hours

Day of your GMAT

I think it’s important to do a short warm-up before your test. The idea isn’t to get practice or to learn something new. The idea is to not have the very first GMAT questions you work on that day counting for your real GMAT score. Working just a few questions without checking the answer choices will help prime your brain for the questions and timing of the test. Working on a few questions without checking the answers also preps you for what the test will feel like as you can’t find out how you’re doing as the test goes.

• DO Wake up at least 2 hours before your test if you have a morning test.
• DO Eat your favorite breakfast, but don’t eat too much.
• DO Drink coffee if you usually do.
• DON’T Drink coffee if you usually don’t.
• DO Warm Up. Work 3 of each question type from each section of the test. (3 Critical Reasoning, 3 Reading Comprehension, 3 Sentence Correction, 3 Math Problem Solving, and 3 Data Sufficiency)
• DON’T Check the answers to your warm-up drill questions.
• DO Arrive 30 min before the test starts.

At your GMAT

• DO Bring everything your GMAT instructions tell you to bring.

[RELATED: GMAT Testing Center Allowed and Prohibited Items]

If you’ve been doing good timed practice, you should have a good sense of the pacing of the test and how it should feel. Rely on this and the techniques you’ve learned for working with the different types and styles of questions. The ideal state is to be on autopilot. This means you’re just doing the work in an unemotional state. Remember, build a routine for the week before the test and you’ll be in your best mental state for the big day. Good luck!